Dumoulin broke hand multiple times throughout Penguins' cup run

Brian Dumoulin is a tough character.

The Pittsburgh Penguins defender, who emerged as pivotal piece to the club's successful title defense, and recently earned a six-year contract extension for doing so, broke his hand multiple times in the playoffs, he told Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Dumoulin was initially injured in Game 5 of the first round versus the Columbus Blue Jackets after blocking a slap shot. After keeping it a secret and hoping to let it heal, Dumoulin's hand was broken multiple times as he suited up in all 25 of the Penguins' postseason contests.

"It would get better for a little bit," Dumoulin said. "I'd do a cross-check then it would break again. It was a process."

The 25-year-old led Pittsburgh by logging 21:59 per game in the playoffs, and chipped in six points along the way despite the ailment.

"It was tough to play with it, but obviously everybody had injuries," he said. "It's all healed up now. They were deciding on surgery or not at the end of the season, but doctors saw a little bit of healing."

Dumoulin said he doesn't know how many times he broke and re-broke his hand, but clearly the injury wasn't debilitating enough to prevent him from hoisting his second Stanley Cup in as many years - or stop him from putting his signature on a fresh contract that will pay him $4.1 million per season until 2023.